Intimate Knowledge (7 page)

She cupped his face, sweating and not in the least self-conscious as she struggled to reach her climax. Saul roared and thrust within her, seeming to not just let go of his control but positively break free of it.

He bellowed, a dark, deep sound torn from his soul.

He pounded into her, the blurring pain so pleasurable Jennifer couldn’t breathe. His huge shaft touched her inner nerves and her climax exploded within her. The room receded, reduced to the pinpoint of where Saul’s cock possessed her cunt in its entirety. The world could have ended and she would have neither cared nor noticed. Only she and Saul existed in this perfect bubble of bliss.

Pleasure rocked her body, and Jennifer lost all her senses and didn’t hear herself scream from the brutal climax. She convulsed, her pussy clenching around his shaft, milking him to within an inch of their lives. Her muscles spasmed, hungrily sucking every last iota he had to give her.

Like a wave crashing, Jennifer dropped from the highest peak she’d ever experienced back down to earth with an almost physical thump. If she’d been more metaphysically inclined she would almost have expressed it as if her spirit or soul had literally been cast high above her, and when her orgasm was finished she’d come back to her body with a snap.

Sweating, panting for breath and partially insensate, Jennifer opened her eyes to look around. Aside from the fact she viewed the room from the floor, she felt astonished to see nothing had changed. No earthquake had rent the apartment to rubble. No earth-shattering event had taken place.

Yet Saul shook above her, the final tremors of what appeared to be an equally vigorous climax still holding sway over his body. He shuddered, his skin had a sheen of dampness, his eyes wide from the force he had experienced.

Tenderly he withdrew from her then lay on his side next to her, taking his weight on one elbow. They stared at each other as if they were complete strangers. Jennifer smiled, silently reaching out a hand to cup her lover’s jaw. She traced her thumb over his lips in a small, intimate gesture, not wanting to break the perfect silence of the moment.

He puckered his lips and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles, seeming as happy to enjoy this special feeling as she.

Shifting slightly, she pressed their lower bodies together, moving closer towards him as she basked in the afterglow.

Chapter Four

Jennifer drew the blankets up over her shoulder and snuggled herself both into the pillows and Saul’s body. When they’d been capable of movement he’d stood, had held out a hand for her to take and had led her back to the bedroom. While she’d crawled into the large bed he’d quickly washed himself in the adjoining bathroom then had climbed in next to her.

Now, facing each other, they grinned sheepishly, like bashful virgins.

Wrapping an arm around Saul’s waist, she drew their bodies flush. Jennifer tilted her head back a bit so she could look Saul directly in the eye. “I meant what I said earlier, about loving you. I’m nowhere near as pretty with words, like you are, but I wasn’t speaking in the heat of the moment. I want you to know that, to never doubt it.”

“For two people who have known one another as long as we have, I know we’re going to learn so much more in the coming months and years,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

Jennifer smiled. They idly stroked their hands over one another. She couldn’t believe how wonderful it felt to be able to touch him at will, to feel his body naked and strong beneath her palm.

“Your job is really dangerous,” she said after a few minutes of silence. “Isn’t it?”

“Sometimes. At other times it’s deadly boring. The amount of paperwork I often have to fill out boggles the mind.”

She laughed.

“I’m struggling to imagine you sitting at a desk, typing out regular forms and arguing with the finance department. The image just doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Jenn, there are some things I can never tell you about—for your own safety as well as the fact I’ve signed a mountain of non-disclosure forms and gag agreements. But yes, the work I do for the government doesn’t fall under the mundane label I usually lead people to believe. The Agency is caught in a grey area, somewhere between sanctioned and deniable, expendable and part of the glue that holds our world together.”

“So all that travelling you’ve done over the years…” Jennifer chuckled and shook her head, understanding there was a line her questions could not cross. “No wonder you never showed me any pictures.”

“Hey, I brought you back souvenirs when I could.” He laughed.

She nodded, a small grin on her face.

“From now on, key rings and postcards won’t cut it, Mister. I’m sure you can find odd knickknacks every now and then.”

“Ah, so you love me for my worldliness? Good to know.”

She laughed with him, enjoying the way they were both easing back into the comfortable familiarity of their friendship, but now so much deeper and richer than ever before. Jennifer traced her fingers over his head, stroking his skin tenderly.

“As long as you always come back to me, whole and well, I don’t care where you go or what you have to do. The things you’ve probably done, the risks you so willingly take…didn’t I tell you that you’re a hero? You’re even more than that to me now, but you’ll always be the most amazing man to me, Saul.”

“I’m not, Jenn, not even close. I know real heroes—I work with a number of them. I’m just…me. Paranoid and evasive. I don’t rescue the innocents, I…protect other agents, shall we say. I watch our arses, second guess the enemy and make certain the team returns safe when I’m called on.”

“A protector, a hero. A man you could rely on and trust with everything you hold dear,” Jennifer surmised, feeling faintly smug. No, she hadn’t seen this side to Saul. But every word he had uttered proved the man she had always cherished, the friend she had loved for years was exactly who she’d always known him to be.

Saul shook his head and wrapped an arm warmly around her waist. They faced each other. Jennifer scooted so closely that their bodies pressed together. Feeling more at peace than she could ever recall, Jennifer rested her head against his chest. The steady sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear made her feel drowsy.

Held securely in each other’s embrace, they lay warm under the blankets for a few minutes, an easy, companionable silence between them.

“So do you know what set this all off?” Saul finally asked. “I’m happy to protect you forever, babe, but those men are still out there and sooner or later they’ll want whatever it is they think you have.”

“Mmm,” she mumbled, having fallen into a light doze. “I’m not exactly sure, though I did think of one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I went camping last week. I…wanted some time to get my head in order… I needed to do some soul-searching. Anyway, I stayed in the Forest of Dean, near those cabins we’ve rented a couple times over the years. You know, in the summer with Lu-lu, Mark and Tom. On the second night I was out there I woke up, there was a man digging, burying something in a small wooden box.”

“A man…Jenn, and you didn’t think this might be important?”

“I didn’t get a particularly good look at him, but he was slim, with long hair. I know he was neither the killer and certainly not Ginger, so I didn’t connect it at first. But it’s the only unusual thing that’s happened to me…well…ever really.”

Saul frowned, his gaze wandering behind her shoulder as he thought.

Jennifer remained silent, letting him sift through what she’d told him.

“Why wouldn’t they go to this man, if they want the contents of this box, why bring you into it?”

“What if they don’t know this man stole the box?” Jenn guessed.

“Then how did they connect you to it? Indeed, I can’t understand how they could have knowledge about you and not the box’s location at all.”

Seeing his point, Jennifer tried to make sense of the situation.

“I was there for a number of days after that night,” she pointed out. “What if they couldn’t get information about this man—or lost him in the woods and I was the only person they could find in the vicinity? My camp wasn’t exactly a secret, I wasn’t there to hide.”

Saul raised his eyebrows, his eyes sparkling as he nodded and picked up the thread.

“If this man was savvy enough to ditch a tail—or even recognise he was being followed in the first place—then it’s possible he’s lying low, waiting for the heat to pass. That would follow with him wanting to bury whatever is in the box. If the people Ginger and the killer represent need the box, that doesn’t explain why they didn’t ambush you out in the forest, or why they waited so long to make a move.”

“Maybe they searched for themselves first? And couldn’t find where it was hidden. You know that area, it’s huge.”

Saul seemed to mull it over a bit longer. After a couple of minutes he turned back to her with a small smile.

She responded in kind, partly because his grin was infectious, but also because she understood his enjoyment of figuring out a puzzle.

“Do you think you could find the burial spot?” he asked.

She frowned, searched her memory.

“I could get us close,” she guessed. “It was dark, the middle of the night. It also wasn’t like I used a compass or map. I followed the sound of digging and someone working, it was just instinct, really random. But yeah, I could certainly take us near the spot.”

Saul lifted his hand, brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen over her face. He did this tenderly, his mind clearly still struggling with the puzzle in his brain. She waited patiently, knowing he’d discuss it with her sooner or later.

“I don’t like the thought of taking you back out there. It’s a risk.”

She huffed, both pleased by his protectiveness and frustrated by his treating her like a breakable object.

“There’s no chance of you finding that buried box without me, Saul. The proverbial needle in a haystack doesn’t even come close. And the box was wooden, I’m nearly positive. So a metal detector or sniffer dog wouldn’t work either.”

The grin he cast her was sheepish. Really, she’d been speaking rhetorically and maybe even a little facetiously. She hadn’t realised until this moment he must have thought and discarded something very similar to just that. Shaking her head, she tightened her hold around his waist, squeezing him.

“We’re a team, Saul. Equals. That’s always been so between us. Now isn’t any different. No, I’m not used to your world, and I’m sure you could tell me true stories that would have me running screaming. But I’m with you on this, all the way. And I will always support you. Always. If you try to ditch me I’ll hunt you down and do nasty things to you.”

“Nasty things?” he repeated, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Do you promise?”

She laughed, the seriousness of a moment ago dispelled by his teasing.

“At the very least. Wicked and nasty things. Horrid, dirty, nasty things. It’s an iron-clad promise.”

“Well then, with the promise of horrid, dirty, nasty things that you can do to me—and at any time, babe—tomorrow I think we’ll both set off for the Forest of Dean.”

“Then that leaves us with tonight,” she purred cheekily.

Nudging one strong shoulder, Jennifer pressed Saul onto his back. He scooted down the mattress a little so his head rested on the pillow, his body open to hers. Her thigh brushed his leg as she moved to straddle him. She felt his cock twitch and start to thicken once again. She widened her legs and rubbed her damp pussy lips against the ridged plane of his flat stomach.

“About those wicked things,” he whispered.

Jennifer pulled the blankets up around her shoulders to help ward off the chilly air, a small laugh escaping her mouth. Eagerly, she pounced upon him, bending down to steal his lips with her own. Kissing him ratcheted up the pounding of her heart. Desire and excitement vied for attention.

Bending lower, she whispered naughtily in his ear.

“I want to suck your cock deeply into my mouth, feel you fucking down my throat as you take your pleasure from me.” She panted a little, her face flushing as she shared her fantasies. “Then, once you’ve come and you’re slick from my mouth I want to know what it would be like to be possessed by you in my pussy and up my arse.”

Saul drew in a breath, clearly struggling to maintain his control. The most delicious, powerful thrill raced through her. His hands were warm as they palmed her breasts and he lightly pinched her nipples. Pleasure shot through her body, her core dampened and her clit sang with the need to be stroked.

“Next time,” he swore gruffly. “Top drawer.”

It took a split second to understand what he’d meant by his second comment, but the sensual fog in her mind cleared. Sitting upright, then leaning all the way over to the bedside table, she tugged open the top drawer and removed a foil packet from the box. After sheathing him, she lowered a hand to tilt his thick, hot cock to the right angle.

Her eyes fluttered as she guided her body onto his shaft, the penetration deeper, more intense from this angle. Small trembles shook her body when she moved lower and lower. Full to bursting when she sat back against his wiry pubis, Jennifer shifted her weight slightly to ease the pressure of his possession. Gasping for breath, she groaned while Saul massaged her breasts.

He seemed to find a direct conduit between her sensitive nipples and the apex of her thighs. Her clit throbbed needily. Lowering her hand, she stroked herself with just the right pressure, hard enough to stimulate but not roughly enough to bruise.

“Ride me, babe,” Saul groaned.

She’d never heard him plead like this. The heady feeling of power mingled with the lusty desire soaking into her body.

Obediently, she raised her body, then sank back onto his shaft. Nerves popped and liquid heat surged within her. Up and down she moved. Saul caressed her breasts in time to the strokes, and Jennifer stimulated her nub further. They danced together intimately, their bodies moving with a grace she’d never experienced.

Panting hard now, her second orgasm of the evening began to build long before she was ready to finish this.